User blog:Baluar/Bal's insights on how to write fanfiction
Well, don't go thinking I was actually thinking in you second-class would-be fanfic writers. I just don't know what to do with my time and began to think of this. Hehehe, I was just kidding (although I didn't lie when I said I don't have anything better to do). So, well, let's write a proper beggining for this pseudo-guide on how to write a fanfiction. Well, hello, future writer of undetermined renown (or whoever's actually reading this, mind you)! In case you can't tell, my nick is Baluar, although you can call me Bal to make it shorter. I'm an average-talented fanfic writer, so you know this won't be a guide to get to be a wealthy writer (and to boot, you're probably not gonna get there writing fanfic). But I've been doing this for a while, and maybe I can come up with a few decent tricks to, if not to allow you to make an awesome fanfic, at least to allow you to avoid it ending up being rather... horrible. Warning This contains humor (or attempts at being humoristic, anyway). If you're the type of person who always goes with bad humor and don't like to at least laugh of how pathetic I am, then please, feel free to go to wherever you'd like and do whatever you want. Well then, let's actually begin: Actual content (everything before is bluff) 1st Rule: BE YOURSELF. It's no use if you're going to write something that doesn't suit your stile. By all means, if this tells you to go against your stile, then feel free to ignore it, or print it and burn it, or cause overall mayhem because I wrote nonsense (ok, no, maybe not the last one). Beo already warned me about that, but I knew anyway. If this contradicts your idea, then ignore it, but do remember, I actually tried to make useful tips that you may or may not pay attention to, not rules you HAVE to follow. 2nd Rule: If you're posting it here, then it should ideally be centered in the God Eater universe. It might not be as huge as the Marvel multiverse, but if you're posting here, you'd understand that the theme must be God Eater. A fanfic about Street Fighter would be rather weird in here. Tip 1: Make a sense off your story. Yeah, I know I'm not good for expressing my thoughts. What I am saying is that your story should ideally be a story. You're probably like this: "I know that. I'm reading some insights to writing fanfic, not "An idiots guide to fanfiction", thanks". But, then again, you always must start at the basic. If you write a story whose chapters are completely unrelated between themselves, then you're gonna be unable to do half the fun things you can do in a story, like character development, and, uh... well, I'm sure you'll come up with something else as well. Tip 2: You're probably gonna want to moderate your language. I mean, sure, it's not like it's taboo or something, but if you need one "fuck" or "shit" per sentence to be able to write your story, then you're probably doing something really, really wrong. (And that's an understatement). "F*** you f****t, I'm gonna do whatever s**t I want and you a*****e ain't gonna f****n' stop me". That's the kind of thing that would be a little off place here. Tip 3: This is more personal taste than anything (so, obviously, feel free to ignore this one if you feel like it), but in my opinion, fanfics should ideally have a certain length. Not like a book, but having enough to make at least 5 or 6 chapters of a few hundreds of words each (500, if you ask me) is ideal. That way, you can actually make a story that's capable of having some sort of (very comprised) character development and other things, while at the same time can be read in a short while and enjoyed. Of course, longer fanfics or one-shots are still very welcome. Tip 4: I am really making this up as I write, and I don't know how to follow... Oh, right. Maybe you had a mind-blowing idea that you think will upgrade the fanfic. Note it down, don't allow it to pass. This might seem to be stupid, but I have lost many an idea because I had it at the wrong place and/or time. Tip 5: Enjoy writing. If you don't, you're probably not gonna do it anyway, but don't go on needlessly just because. If writing has turned into a hindrance, drop everything into a cliffhanger and that'll make for a cool ending. What did you think of this? It was great! It helped me Meh I think it's useless Feel free to comment below, by the way. Category:Blog posts